Villance / Aisance / Aise / Villa et aisantia / Villanche / Villancia / Villantia / Viyance

The present font in this church is listed and illustrated in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10006695] [accessed 22 February 2026]: "fonts baptismaux [...] pierre calcaire [...] hauteur: 130 cm [NB: probably includes the cover] [...] Date: 1651 - 1710 [...] couvercle en laiton, hauteur : 25 cm".
A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 26 January 2026) informs: "Villancia, Villantia, Villanche, Villa et aisantia, Aisance, Aise. Villance is once the site of two Gallo-Roman villas. As always, continuity of occupation is doubtful. Later, it was the centre of a Merovingian estate (its cemetery was excavated in 1953 near the Grand Moulin). Before 833, the village was part of a Carolingian domain and was inherited by king Louis the Pious, who gave it to a certain Richard. Richard died in 839 and had his brothers donate all his possessions, including the Villance estate, to the monks of Prüm. These arrangements were confirmed by charters of 842 by the emperor Lothaire and in 865 by the son of this emperor. The parish church is mentioned in the Prüm polyptych (893). The monks of the abbey gathered the former feudal territory of Villance (Villance itself, Transinne, Libin, Smuid, and, for a short period, Redu and Maissin) into a single primitive parish. According to Jean-Pierre Devroey, Villance consisted of a villa with a church. The archives of Prüm Abbey contain a great deal of information concerning the management of this estate. In 1139, Pope Innocent II confirmed that the parish of Villance owed offerings to the communal crosses (croix banales) of the Abbey of Saint-Hubert. Subsequently, through alliances, pledges, and conflicts, the Villance estate passed successively into the hands of the princes, dukes, and counts of Liège, Luxembourg, Namur, and Hainaut. The fortified tower from the 11th century, that stood on the site of the present-day church of Villance, witnessed the passage of many military troops. It was demolished in 1831. First known parish priest: 1342. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the rich forest estate of Villance aroused much covetousness, and the village was drawn into numerous conflicts that ultimately led to its near ruin. Household censuses dated 1625 and 1654 show that the population had fallen by two-thirds. The current church was built in 1865 on the site of a castle with a defensive tower. Dedicated to Our Lady. No information on older church and older font. Baptismal records starting in 1632. Baroque limestone font from the 17th century. https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10006695. Some information about the church on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa7SELWI6Kk De la tour fortifiée à l'église de Villance... Reference : Autour des possessions de l'abbaye de Prüm (893) en Ardenne belge, Jean-Pierre Devroey, at the conference: De la mer du Nord à la Méditerranée: Francia Media, une région au coeur de l'Europe (c.840-c.1050). https://www.academia.edu/1190485/ La_hi%C3%A9rarchisation_des_p%C3%B4les_habit%C3%A9s_et_lespace_rural_Autour_des_possessions_de_labbaye_de_Pr%C3%BCm_893_en_Ardenne_belge".